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mlliu2006
Reviews
Touching the Sound: The Improbable Journey of Nobuyuki Tsujii (2015)
Lending a voice to Nobuyuki Tsujii
I watched the Peter Rosen film "A Surprise in Texas" in 2010 when my home TV was tuned to PBS for background music. Listening to the soundtrack of that documentary about the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, I was increasingly drawn to the tone of the piano of Nobuyuki Tsujii(Nobu), unaware that the young pianist is blind. By the end of the film, I was standing in front of the TV screen, in tears.
This new documentary is a second look by Peter Rosen at Nobu, four years after the Cliburn competition. Since the gold medal, Nobu has become a superstar in his own country, where he is beloved for his music as well as for his appealing personality.
Outside Japan, however, Nobu is still not widely known, partly because he does not speak English. With excellent subtitles, this film gives those of us who do not speak Japanese a glimpse at what makes Nobu so popular in Japan. We are shown a collage of footage from past Japanese TV documentaries of Nobu and fresh interviews of people close to Nobu, including his mother Itsuko Tsujii, long-time childhood piano teacher Masahiro Kawakami, and tour manager Nick Asano. We also see footage of Nobu in performances in the U.S., the U.K., as well as in the tsunami-torn Tohoku region in Japan. We are shown how his performances affect the audiences.
This film gives us a sense of the support behind Nobu's success and what it is like for someone who is blind to take on the challenges of touring all over the world. It unfolds in a straight-forward manner that mirrors the personality and music of Nobu himself. At the screening that I attended in January 2014, it held the audience spellbound with the compelling story of Nobuyuki Tsujii and his captivating performances, sprinkled with moments of poignancy and humor.
I only wish that there were more exploration of Nobu's inner thoughts. But perhaps that's the subject for yet another documentary.
A Surprise in Texas (2010)
A miracle in Texas
I viewed this documentary for the first time on PBS, initially following the television broadcast nonchalantly while working on my computer. By the end of the film, I was in tears and on my feet.
Peter Rosen has given us a very sensitive portrayal of the contestants at the 13th Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Rosen has been criticized for focusing too much on one competitor in particular, the young Japanese Nobuyuki Tsujii. Personally, I am thankful that Rosen did that. I know I became increasing drawn to the show only as I started to take note of Tsujii. At the time, I was unaware of his blindness nor the outcome of the competition, so the gentle build-up of admiration for this seemingly ungainly young man worked perfectly on me. I was especially touched by the footage of Nobuyuki's interaction with his Fort Worth host family and of his piano performances. As a mother myself, a scene in the film that especially grips me is that of the trio of women (the mother, the translator, the matriarch of the host family) quietly standing backstage, all in tears, as Nobuyuki completes his Chopin concerto in the final round.
Thanks too to Rosen for portraying the Takacs Quartet, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and especially conductor James Conlon in such heroic lights. I am aware of an article penned by one Benjamin Ivry that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, shortly after the closing of the Cliburn, which heaps unwarranted insults on these musicians as well as on Tsujii; I hope that writer has had the courage to watch this documentary and would, some day, apologize in public for his harsh words.
Few would notice it, but I do: Tsujii's own composition ("Whisper of the River") gently plays on the soundtrack with the final film credits -- a most graceful and fitting end note to this labor of love as a gift to that extraordinary young man.
In a world beset with troubles and uncertainties, it is a privilege to witness the blossoming of a miracle named Nobuyuki Tsujii, against all odds, from a rare confluence of extraordinary talent, indomitable human spirits, and unconditional love and support. Bravo to Peter Rosen!